Whitless Letters: Kerrigan

For those of you who are not aware, I love video games. A lot. I love making fun of them even more. About two years ago (woah) I began doing a video series in which I wrote letters to various video game characters. Mostly it was a way to practice in front of the camera and to try my hand at writing, but it was so much fun I kept doing them. This is the latest one. Enjoy!

The nice thing about having a blog now though is that I can also use it to elaborate on the Letters a bit. Fun times!

I normally actually don’t go this nuts over female characters. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I’m always waiting for them to 1. Fall in love and have learn that there’s more to life than their career or 2. Be completely tough and butch and unforgiving when it comes to being feminine at all.

There’s nothing wrong with either of these traits. But I get tired sometimes that female characters seem to need to go to these extremes. In order to be more active, they need to essentially be a man. If they’re feminine in any way, it’s very sexualized and verging on Dominatrix at times. Think…Bayonetta.

Ugh…

On the opposite end, you have the completely passive heroines, like Princess Peach or Zelda. Sure, they might fight sometimes, like Tifa Lockhart, but ultimately they are there to be a foil for a male protagonist and when the going gets tough, the ultimately always must be saved.

Double ugh.

But Kerrigan’s different. Whereas the first episode of Starcraft 2 focused on life, liberty and the American way (essentially), Heart of the Swarm delves into the story of a truly amazing character. There’s a quote from Mad Men. I can’t remember the episode it’s from, I can’t remember exactly how it goes, but it sums up why I like Kerrigan perfectly:

“Don’t try to be a man. You can’t. Be a woman. Be a woman to your fullest ability”

Kerrigan is tough. She’s military trained, she’s got telekinetic AND telepathic abilities. She’s been to hell and back. She will fight to the bitter end. She won’t take crap from anybody and goes her own path.

Seriously, imagine being able to command THIS!

But she’s also human. And a woman. And the game is perfectly fine with showing that. When times get very tough, she shows a vulnerable side. She takes a moment to cry when she gets devastating news. She struggles with her identity. She looks hurt when the one she loves with all her heart can’t understand her.

Someday I will master the badass single tear.

And it doesn’t make her look weak. It’s OKAY to let women be women sometimes. It doesn’t make them any less tough, it doesn’t mean they’re going to be constantly emotional and dependent on men. Just because you’re a female hero does not mean you have to be the toughest person on the planet. Showing weakness is okay.

That is what I love about Kerrigan. She takes those moments, she gets emotional sometimes, but then she gathers herself up to overcome all her obstacles. And she does so without sacrificing any of her femininity (THAT…is a hard word to spell). She goes out and kicks the asses of everyone who would stand in her way. And that, in many ways, is what makes her sexy. Although her posing ability doesn’t hurt either.